The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] 226

Chapter 226: What’s This About Marrying First and Loving Later? 11

It was the fourth day of the seven-day tour.

The group didn’t stay in the ancestral hall for long, quickly dispersing. As the Mountain God Festival approached, the village chief wouldn’t allow the tourists to wander around while the villagers were gathered.

They would also be called upon to help prepare for the Mountain God’s wedding ceremony, eliminating any possibility of disrupting the festival.

As the sky brightened, someone knocked on Tao Ning’s door.

She opened the door, feigning ignorance: “Bringing me breakfast so early?”

“What breakfast? Come with us to the ancestral hall, we need to alter the wedding dress,” said the young man who had held the red box that day. He was followed by several villagers, and at the very end of the group stood a slightly older woman.

Her age couldn’t be determined from her appearance. She wore a floral blouse and cropped pants made of coarse cloth. She seemed to like dressing up, but her excessive thinness made it look like she would be crushed by the abundance of flowers on her clothes.

She was staring blankly at the pale yellow grass beneath her feet, looking up as if she sensed someone watching her.

Dressed in vibrant flowers, her heart was like withered wood.

The young woman standing at the door was fair and clean, about the same age as her child, at the prime of her youth, her clear eyes looking at her curiously.

The middle-aged woman froze, then lowered her head as if electrocuted, remaining silent.

The young man at the front, not receiving a response, was about to get angry, but remembering Tao Ning’s sharp tongue and how she could easily embarrass him in front of everyone, he swallowed his words.

Following Tao Ning’s gaze, he saw Aunt Hua with her head lowered.

Thinking this was just right, the young man said, “Aunt Hua, I’ve brought her out. The alterations to the wedding dress are up to you. There can’t be any more problems before the wedding.”

His tone at the end carried a subtle threat.

Aunt Hua seemed to hear him, or maybe not, simply nodding slightly and responding softly.

Then she said to Tao Ning, “Come with me, everything is ready.”

Tao Ning followed her, walking towards the ancestral hall.

Many villagers had gathered in the open space in front of the ancestral hall, putting aside their work and coming together to prepare for the grandest festival of the year.

Walking through the crowd, Tao Ning noticed several tourists among those preparing for the ceremony. No one could leave.

People had a herd mentality, feeling safer in a crowd.

Yan Wenruo, however, felt like she might be the exception, especially after recalling what Liang Chun had told her this morning about the villagers’ habit of cannibalism. Sitting in the crowd, she couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.

Because just by looking, she couldn’t tell who was human and who was a living corpse.

They all looked the same, working, talking, even complaining about being hungry, their lives no different from living people.

She had heard Lei Ge say before that some people didn’t have shadows and they should be careful to distinguish them, but it was just a vague reminder.

At the time, everyone had subconsciously looked at the shadows on the ground, finding that everyone had a shadow, and assuming that everyone present was alive, feeling relieved.

In fact, during the day, everyone in Lingxiu Village had a shadow, whether they were dead or truly alive, they all cast shadows under the light.

Only the Wandering Ghosts that appeared at night didn’t have shadows.

So how could they be distinguished?

Yan Wenruo worked absentmindedly, reaching for the bamboo basket in front of her. The little girl beside her also reached for the basket, and their hands accidentally touched.

Yan Wenruo: “…!”

It felt like she had touched ice. So this little girl was also a living corpse!

Yan Wenruo subconsciously wanted to pull her hand back.

The girl, however, grabbed Yan Wenruo’s hand, her tone displeased: “You’re wrong, the order is red flowers, then pink flowers, then pinkish-white flowers. You didn’t take the pink flowers, you took the pinkish-white ones.”

The icy feeling sent shivers down her spine. The hand on the back of her hand felt like a soft block of ice. Thinking that this was the hand of a living corpse, Yan Wenruo almost shook it off.

In the end, Yan Wenruo suppressed the urge, putting on an apologetic expression: “Sorry, I made a mistake.”

Only then did the girl slowly retract her hand, pointing at another basket with her bloodless finger: “If you do it again, I’ll tell Grandpa Village Chief that you’re disrespecting the Mountain God, not focusing.”

No one wanted to know the consequences of disrespecting the Mountain God, so Yan Wenruo focused on her task.

At the table behind her were two tourists. Sitting back-to-back with Yan Wenruo was Sister Qu, the housewife. For some reason, she suddenly raised her voice: “So cold, what’s wrong with your hand?”

The young woman sitting next to her rolled her eyes and continued working: “It’s your hand that’s cold.”

“How is my hand…” The housewife was confused, wanting to say something, but noticed the surroundings had become quiet, as if many people were looking at her, their gazes accusatory.

The housewife immediately fell silent, continuing to work, recalling everyone’s gazes, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

As if she had accidentally revealed some secret.

“Come this way,” Aunt Hua said to Tao Ning.

Tao Ning retracted her gaze and followed the figure in front of her.

Someone was cleaning the main hall, the rustling sound echoing within. The dusty red silk was taken down and piled to the side, to be replaced with new ones tomorrow.

The two arrived at the entrance to the side hall. After entering, Aunt Hua walked towards a room and pushed open the door.

Sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating a set of wedding clothes placed directly opposite the door. The colors were vibrant, the craftsmanship exquisite. Seeing this wedding dress, one finally understood what it meant for a humble dwelling to be graced by brilliance.

The simple, dusty room seemed brighter because of this wedding dress.

The figure with her back to Tao Ning paused, turning around without any change in her expression, and said indifferently, “Put it on first, let me see what needs to be altered.”

“Okay.” Tao Ning placed her crossbody cloth bag aside, taking the wedding dress off the hanger and walking behind the curtain to change.

An invisible red shadow floated out, and the doll nestled in the cloth bag tilted, falling softly onto the table.

Unseen by anyone else in the room except Tao Ning, an invisible red cloud appeared, peeking inside through the curtain.

She was disappointed to see Tao Ning, finding it troublesome, directly putting on the wedding dress over her long-sleeved clothes.

Imagine how Tao Ning felt when she suddenly saw another head appear above hers while changing. Even if the other person was breathtakingly beautiful, it was enough to scare anyone.

Noticing the subtle disappointment in Xuan Miao’s eyes, Tao Ning immediately put down the belt in her hand, pretending to pull open her collar, and looked at her questioningly.

She mouthed silently: Should I take it off?

Xuan Miao shook her head, retracting her head from above the curtain.

Tao Ning felt like she understood. So Xuan Miao really liked people taking the initiative, preferably with a surprise.

Xuan Miao floated to the other side, gracefully sitting down on an empty chair, resting her chin on her hand and looking at the woman busy at the table.

Thinking, she truly lived up to her name, really liking flowers.

Aunt Hua was organizing her sewing box, completely unaware that the true soul of the Mountain God was sitting beside her, focused on arranging the needles and threads in the box on the table.

The red-lacquered box was carved with various flowers. Inside, neatly arranged, were threads of different colors.

She ignored the other threads, picking out the red and gold ones, which matched the colors of the wedding dress and were from the same batch, so the colors wouldn’t clash. Then she stared blankly at the empty clothes hanger.

Soon, Tao Ning came out, fully dressed, the hem of the skirt indeed revealing her feet.

Tao Ning was quite satisfied. Although the skirt was large, the shorter length compensated for her not-so-fast running speed, preventing her from tripping and falling.

“Come here, let me take a look.” Aunt Hua nimbly threaded a needle, beckoning Tao Ning.

Neither of them was surprised by Aunt Hua’s dexterity with the needle and thread.

Living corpses had stiff fingers and couldn’t thread needles or make exquisite wedding dresses.

Aunt Hua measured the slightly loose waist, her eyes still and emotionless, like a skilled craftswoman.

She was the most skilled embroiderer in the village, having made wedding dresses for many brides since she was young, year after year, each dress worn by a different bride.

This year’s dress was especially exquisite, drawing much admiration since it was finished. The village chief repeatedly praised it, saying that the Mountain God would definitely feel her devotion and bestow her with the greatest blessings.

Aunt Hua, however, wasn’t happy at all. Or rather, she had never been happy about anyone praising her wedding dress making skills.

This year, she was especially unhappy, even though she had received the most praise, because this wedding dress was made for her daughter, Xiao Zhen.

When her young daughter was announced as the Mountain God’s bride, Aunt Hua had felt utterly absurd, as if the sins of making countless wedding dresses were now being visited upon her.

But she couldn’t resist, she couldn’t send Xiao Zhen away.

She didn’t even have the right to take her place, only able to watch helplessly as Xiao Zhen grew up, day by day, walking towards death.

The young man’s warning earlier was to warn Aunt Hua not to let something like last time happen, meaning—Xiao Zhen was dead, there couldn’t be a second death.

“Hiss…” While altering the waist, Aunt Hua accidentally pricked her fingertip with the needle, a bead of fresh blood welling up.

She subconsciously wanted to lick it away when she noticed a neatly folded handkerchief in her peripheral vision. Aunt Hua looked at the owner of the handkerchief.

Tao Ning said, “Here, use this to wipe it.”

Aunt Hua stared at Tao Ning for a long time, her dull eyes flickering. After a while, she reached out and took the handkerchief.

Her eyes weren’t cloudy and white like those with failing eyesight, but more like the dried bed of a lake after too many tears had been shed.

Accidentally touching Aunt Hua’s hand, although it was a little cold, it had warmth, she was alive.

Tao Ning rubbed her fingertips, suddenly saying, “Aunt Hua, Xiao Zhen, she…”

With a clang, the person sitting beside her abruptly stood up. Aunt Hua’s face was deathly pale, and she hurriedly asked, “What happened to Xiao Zhen?”

Tao Ning shook her head: “Nothing happened to Xiao Zhen, I just wanted to say that when I talked to her before, she didn’t seem very willing to talk to me.”

Aunt Hua felt a pang of sadness for no reason, her tone softening: “Maybe she was in a bad mood at the time.”

Tao Ning nodded, lowering her head as if slightly saddened: “So that’s it.”

Under the table, a hand in a red sleeve reached out, hooking onto Tao Ning’s other hand resting on her lap. The hand was warm, but after it cooled down, it was unceremoniously released and withdrawn.

The Ghost King’s ruthlessness was on full display, using and discarding without hesitation.

Tao Ning: “…” I really want to try sneezing.

To see if the Ghost King had any conscience at all.

Just as she thought this, Xuan Miao’s hand reached out again, hooking onto the hand she had left there, touching it, and immediately letting go when it wasn’t warm enough.

Tao Ning, being used as a human heater: “…”

To appear normal in front of Aunt Hua, Tao Ning couldn’t glare at the heartless Xuan Miao.

However, her forbearance only led to more audacity. The red-clad figure moved closer to her.

A voice whispered in her ear: “Why is it still cold, aren’t you warm anymore?”

Tao Ning grabbed Xuan Miao’s hand, placing it on her lap, her fingers moving swiftly. Xuan Miao, confused, deciphered what she had written, character by character.

It formed a sentence: “It takes time to recover body temperature after cooling down.”

Who would put their hand down and then immediately reach out again, not even five minutes later?

“…” Xuan Miao covered her lips with her sleeve, chuckling, and slowly wrote a few words on Tao Ning’s leg.

—Angry?

Tao Ning withdrew her hand, crossing her arms and refusing to be touched. A few seconds later, she rubbed the spot on her thigh where Xuan Miao’s fingertip had brushed against it.

She suspected that Xuan Miao had done it on purpose, the light touch tickling her.

Aunt Hua, altering the wedding dress at the table, was completely oblivious. She lowered her eyes, focused on unpicking the stitches and mending. Halfway through, she realized she didn’t have enough red thread.

Aunt Hua said, “I’m out of thread, I’ll go home and get some, don’t leave before I’m finished.”

Finishing her words, she stood up and left, without even closing the door.

She had disregarded the young man’s warning, not keeping a close watch on Tao Ning, leaving her alone.

Although she didn’t know where Tao Ning could go, with so many people outside and the high walls of the ancestral hall, and unarmed.

Aunt Hua’s figure disappeared behind the door. Xuan Miao waved her red sleeve, and the door slammed shut with a bang.

The room suddenly darkened, the only light source remaining being the red candle on the table.

A pair of cold, jade-like hands reached out to Tao Ning’s face, turning it towards hers, and kissed her crimson lips.

For countless years, Xuan Miao had been cold. She often felt like an ice sculpture in a snowy landscape, a transparent and rigid existence in this world.

Perhaps it was her former human nature acting up, she would instinctively seek warmth, unable to control herself.

At this moment, Xuan Miao felt that this was the disadvantage of retaining her original nature and memories. Human desires were insatiable, easily becoming greedy.

Outside the ancestral hall, the villagers were bustling with preparing for the wedding procession. Inside the ancestral hall, the Mountain God was passionately kissing her bride in secret.

At some point, Xuan Miao sat on Tao Ning’s lap, her arms around Tao Ning’s head, kissing her deeply.

Tao Ning’s slender waist was embraced by a hand, the white back of the hand faintly visible amidst the red robes, both of them lost in this stolen moment of intimacy.

It was Xuan Miao who pulled away first.

Her red lips parted slightly, her hand, finally warm, resting on the other hand at Tao Ning’s waist, gently caressing the raised knuckles on the back of her hand. Xuan Miao said, “Why are you putting my waist against the table? Don’t you know I can’t feel pain?”

Xuan Miao was sitting on Tao Ning’s lap, pressed close against her. Behind her waist was the table piled with the wedding dress, the distance small, leaving no room to move.

“Your waist doesn’t hurt?” Tao Ning’s other hand held the back of Xuan Miao’s neck, pressing her down, and whispered something in her ear.

Xuan Miao: “…”

If Xuan Miao’s heart could still beat, it would be racing from these words, her face flushed.

For the first time, Xuan Miao was glad she was dead and wouldn’t show such a flustered expression. She deliberately said in a cool tone: “You’re the first person who dares to covet my body.”

Tao Ning licked the wound on her lip, which she had somehow bitten again, and smiled: “Then I’m also the first person who dared to kiss you, what’s one more crime?”

“You’re taking advantage of the fact that I can’t kill you, acting so recklessly? Do you know that I have a thousand ways to torture someone without killing them?” Xuan Miao’s words were ruthless, but her body didn’t move away.

In this intimate position, any harsh words lost their impact, becoming more like playful banter.

Tao Ning had a way to deal with this, saying regretfully, “Alright then, if I were covered in blood, you definitely wouldn’t be interested in kissing me. So it’s better to kiss a few more times now, I’ll consider it as getting my money’s worth.”

Finishing her words, without waiting for Xuan Miao’s response, she raised her chin and sealed her lips.

Taking the red thread from home, Aunt Hua slowly walked towards the ancestral hall. Along the way, people greeted her, happily telling her to alter the wedding dress well.

They also said that the wedding dress she made was the most beautiful, and the Mountain God would definitely like it.

No one mentioned her deceased child, nor did they offer condolences, as if Xiao Zhen had never existed.

But Aunt Hua had long stopped expecting anything from anyone. Relatives, tourists, in her eyes, there was no difference, so she wouldn’t be too saddened by these things.

Passing through the familiar gate and turning towards the side hall, Aunt Hua’s pace remained unhurried. From afar, she saw the closed door.

Aunt Hua’s heart stirred, and she stopped, unsure if she had closed the door before leaving.

Her memory told her that she hadn’t closed the door before leaving. Now, the door wasn’t locked, did that mean…

Clutching the red thread tightly, Aunt Hua hurried forward and pushed open the door.

The scene inside came into view. The familiar figure was sitting behind the table, looking up at her.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but in the dimly lit room, Tao Ning’s eyes, reflecting the candlelight, looked particularly moist, and her lips were much redder than before.

Aunt Hua opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but as if remembering something, she ultimately remained silent, returning to her seat with the extra thread and continuing to alter the wedding dress on the table.

This time, Aunt Hua’s movements were much more efficient, quickly finishing the alterations and asking Tao Ning to try it on again.

Aunt Hua tidied up, her numb face revealing nothing about her mood. She methodically put everything back in its place.

Xuan Miao was still sitting at the table, not paying attention to Aunt Hua’s mood, but resting her chin on her hand, waiting for Tao Ning to come out in the wedding dress.

After a while, a red sleeve brushed aside the curtain, and a figure in red walked out, the red clothes vibrant and striking.

Xuan Miao took in the sight, thinking that if Tao Ning hadn’t been born in this ghostly place, she would have been even more dazzling.

Some people were born to attract attention.

At the same time, a commotion erupted outside, shouts of someone floating in the well.

Tao Ning changed her clothes and went out with Aunt Hua. A crowd had gathered around the well on one side of the ancestral hall, chattering.

Someone had died, the dead person was the housewife, she had fallen into the well and drowned.

The familiar light blue shirt floated in the water, seen by many, the tourists’ faces pale.

How could someone die so suddenly?

A young woman said, “I told you, your hand was cold.”

Yan Wenruo, not far away, clearly heard these words. She remembered Sister Qu being called away by the young woman beside her to help carry something, and she hadn’t returned for a while.

In the end, only the young woman returned, sitting down and continuing to work as if there had never been another person beside her.

One person shouldn’t enter a temple alone, two shouldn’t look into a well together.

Sister Qu had been pushed into the well and drowned by the villagers.